Mercer's Mutterings: early Popeye cartoons

[MC Paul Barman]

Prior to around 1941 when Jack Mercer would voice Popeye he was always doing his voice recordings after the artwork of the cartoon was created. So, he'd see the scenes and add the pre-scripted dialogue.

However he started to adlib these mumbling bits of dialogue that weren't in the script or accounted for by the artwork. These were dubbed into periods where Popeye's mouth isn't moving.... And quickly they became the funniest part of Popeye. Other voice actors followed suit and started adding their own mumblings.

Popeye is funniest when you get to hear these goofy Mutterings.

But around 1942 they stopped because the producers wanted to compete with Disney. So they wanted to have prettier looking visuals while the view of the mutterings was that they were too out-there. So the dialogue was to now be done first with more focus on the drawings. But since the dialogue would be done before Mercer could see the scene he could no longer add his Popeye mumbles. And the fanfare of the show dropped a bit.


Here's an example of Mercer's Mutterings:

 

[Joe Frank]

pretty firme

 

[The Diplomat]

"You're fixing it wrong!"

Always loved Popeye.

 

[Seano]

Popeye was a pussy unless he was all hopped up on spinach.

 

[MC Paul Barman]

 

[MC Paul Barman]

Popeye was a pussy unless he was all hopped up on spinach.

Not entirely true.
He was pretty good at holding his own for awhile even prior to the spinach.

 

[Seano]

Not entirely true.
He was pretty good at holding his own for awhile even prior to the spinach.

Thats simply not true. Here he is with no spinach-

Now look at this pic. You can clearly see the spinach in this pic and look at the difference in his physique-

Popeye wasn't shit without that spinach.

 

[MC Paul Barman]

Simply absurd.... look how Popeye (with no spinach) fairs against Pierre Bluto in "Axe Me Another".
It wasn't until he finally punched Pierre Bluto into a baby chair (that he also punched into existence from a tree trunk) that he used any spinach:

 

[MC Paul Barman]

I mean, for the love of god, man.... he's outclassing Pierre Bluto in every challenge.
Ma-fugga just chopped a tree in HALF (down the length) with one axe toss.

 

[Seano]

Hey, I watched Popeye. Popeye pretty much always got his ass kicked and then had to pull out the spinach to save his ass.

It actually worked for Bluto too, but he was more concerned with kidnapping and raping Olive Oyl than beating Popeye.

 

[Fox by the Sea]

Popeye was a pussy unless he was all hopped up on spinach.

you're calling Belfort Popeye?

 

[MC Paul Barman]

Let it be known.... Popeye did this BEFORE he had any spinach.

 

[DaDamn]

Lots of dirty tactics being used back then. Unregulated and out of control.

 

[Seano]

Let it be known.... Popeye did this BEFORE he had any spinach.

He probably still had traces of previous spinach use in his system.

 

[MC Paul Barman]

See... that's why Popeye used the spinach.
Bluto was like Evander Holyfield in those episodes. Popeye just used the spinach to level the playing field again.

you ain't gettin' a fair scrap against Bluto.

 

[MC Paul Barman]

hell... even on spinach Bluto isn't doing this:

 

[EvilDDS]

Remember the Popeye video game, that was fun

 

[MC Paul Barman]

@Seano
Here's the episode I thought I posted before. Not a drop of spinach and he's murking Bluto in those challenges:




Check out that music. I dig that tune.